Tuesday, May 17, 2011

DIY- Pretty Painted Glass Jars

Hello there! It's Krystin here, the lady behind My Sweet Baboo Etsy shop and Sappy Apple blog. Since joining the Etsy Alberta Street Team I've been keeping an eye on this lovely blog of Lindy's and have had to pleasure of getting to know her a little more. I was super excited when she asked me if I would contribute a little DIY guest post while she and her sweet family were enjoying their trip to Disney World. So, here it is! Please keep in mind that I'm the mama to a very busy and curious almost two year old... Excuse the imperfections.Ever since I saw this picture in Martha Stewart magazine, I've been wanting to make something similar. I love herdishwasher safe enamel bottle How-To, but I had a bunch of pretty paint left over from other crafts and I have quite a few things like pens, knitting needles and dried flowers that would be fine to fill the jars with. So, although mine are not dishwasher safe, they are still completely usable.I have a pretty large collection of mason jars that we used for our wedding just sitting in the garage, so I decided to give a few of them a lick of paint on the inside. I love the way they turned out. If you use a similar palette for the different containers, and try to use glassware with different textures on the outside, the result is a set which is matching in tone but varied in texture. It's really quite wonderful. Sorry I don't have any examples to share with you all.Try to use paint that isn’t too thick – although it needs to be thick enough to ‘stick’ to the glass. Left over wall paint would work fine but, I just used some left over acrylic paint. You’ll need to get creative when getting the paint to cover awkwardly shaped bottles. I had to swirl, shake and swivel the bottles in one hand until, eventually, they were coated thoroughly. A paintbrush can help, but the only tool you really need is patience!

You will need:• Old glassware- cleaned and dried thoroughly
• Lids• Paint
• Old newspaper or something to keep the mess under control• Paintbrushes (optional)

Step One Pour in a big dollop of paint, screw on the lid and start to swirl. I had to swivel and shake the jar for a while before it was completely coated. If the mouth of the jar is big enough, you can use a paintbrush to get the job done quickly.

I tried adding three different paint colours to one of the jars and was delighted by the results. I think I still like solid colour look more though.

Step Two When you’ve coated the inside of the container, leave it upside down to let it drip onto the lid as much as possible. I waiting long enough to make some lunch and do a load of laundry... about half an hour.

Step three Unscrew the lid carefully and let the rest of the paint drip out into an extra jar or right back into the paint container to use again.

Clean the rim of the glassware while the paint is still damp and leave to dry – this can take up to two days depending on the paint you use.

I just painted my living room, and needed something to accent the color. I had some old vases that I thought would work wonderfully, so used some of the wall paint on some, and the accent color on some. They will hold primitive spools, etc. However, mine did not have lids. I found out that a double layer of plastic wrap rubber banded tightly on the outside of the vase works just the same. Thanks for the great idea!